


How the God Became Lonely

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Gen, The Last Great Time War, Time War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-29
Updated: 2012-07-29
Packaged: 2017-11-11 00:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/472470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story chronicles the Eighth Doctor’s journey through the Time War, what happens to his companion, Madelyn, and his eventual regeneration into Nine. It is in a format corresponding to the 24 Norse Runes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fehu

Fehu ~ _Abundance, wealth, hope and plenty_

The Doctor was troubled. Things had been too nice, for too long. He wasn’t used to staying in one body for such a long period of time. He had had many companions in this eighth body, and he had one even now, an older woman by the name of Madelyn. Having companions distracted him from thinking about the Master, he supposed. The Master still appeared in his dreams, his last moments playing over and over again in the Doctor’s mind, torturing him. The Doctor only wished that the Master had not refused his hand. Perhaps things would have been different. But he did not dare rewrite things. Not now.

The Doctor felt a gentle tap on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Madelyn giving him a gentle look. She was from Earth’s 1950s, and was a rather quiet woman, but she could get his attention in subtle ways, which was often useful. She never jolted him out of reveries or shouted; she always gently nudged him and spoke her words with a sort of quiet intensity.

“You have your troubled look again, Doctor. You keep thinking about him, don’t you?” Madelyn said, and the Doctor gave a faint nod. He had told her about the Master a while ago, and she tried as best she could to understand their complex relationship. More importantly, she was a friend who supported him, and someone he could talk to who would give him comfort.

“Him…and other things.” The Doctor gripped the console, and Madelyn leaned against him a little, staring at the core. She gave him a questioning look, wanting to know more.

“It’s been too quiet, Maddy. I’ve been taking you places, and there hasn’t been any trouble. When I travel, there’s always some sort of trouble. That’s what makes the adventure. I feel uneasy. There’s too much calm.” The Doctor worked at the TARDIS controls, taking them nowhere in particular. He felt hands on his and looked up at Madelyn. She gave him a meaningful look.

“You’re not thinking about someplace to go; don’t fly her as something to cure boredom.”

The Doctor nodded and relented, standing up. “Then where would you like to go?” Madelyn pondered this, watching him.

“I’ve never been to Gallifrey, Doctor.”

This made the Doctor pause for a moment. All his companions asked the question eventually, but he still was never sure how to answer it. He knew that it would probably be okay to show them his planet, but he was always reluctant to return home. He loved the planet itself, but he was wary of the other Time Lords. He waited a while before he spoke again.

“We can do that if you like. But I can’t guarantee any fun at all. The Time Lords can be a dreadfully dull people, I’m afraid.” The Doctor laughed a little, trying to make his nervousness go away. Madelyn gave him an easy smile.

“You’re a Time Lord, Doctor. And you are the furthest from dull that I have ever encountered, trust me,” Madelyn said, and the Doctor smiled back at her.

“I’m also a renegade, Maddy. You ran off with one of the stranger members of my race. I’m very atypical.” The Doctor said this with an air of pride, feeling as if he had to be a right to be a little egotistical. And he did not wear the Time Lords’ funny-looking traditional attire, either. Although it looked rather nice on the Master. That, however, was a different story entirely. Madelyn nudged him again, sensing that he had gone into a reverie. 

“So. Gallifrey?” Madelyn looked up at him, her smile small but enthusiastic. “You always spoke about the silver trees and red grass. I think it would be fantastic to see.” The Doctor nodded and set the controls for Gallifrey, at a point that would correspond to his timestream.

“If nothing else, I can show you the nature. I must say, I’m rather reluctant to see Time Lords; I tend to only be friends with the other renegades. The main Time Lords don’t like me much.” The Doctor whirred around the TARDIS, feeling excited at traveling once again despite the unsettling destination. Madelyn beamed at him, watching him work.

“Anything would be lovely. Thank you so much.”

It made the Doctor happy to please Madelyn; she had fled into his TARDIS one night, looking for a police box instead, having run from an abusive husband. She didn’t know what was going on, but she begged him to keep her safe, so he did. He traveled somewhere else and took her away, and she didn’t want to return. She told him she had nothing to live for where she came from, and that if she returned, her husband would find her. She came from the sort of age when a woman should _never_  leave her husband, and simply do what he asks, even if it hurts. And she had looked so terribly frightened when she had joined him. So it made the Doctor glad that the expression was slowly fading from her face, and that she was becoming more at ease. 

The Doctor would show her Gallifrey in golden age. An age of wealth, abundance, a Gallifrey in its prime. His friend Romana was Lady President, and they had moved beyond the corrupt rule of Borusa, and the disaster with anti-time and Zagreus. He hoped that it would go smoothly, and that all his worries were for nothing. If he did nothing else, he would keep his friend safe and make her smile. That was what mattered, after all. He did not think he could bear to see her terrified ever again.


	2. Uruz

Uruz ~ _Strength, untamed potential, rashness, brutality_

_ _

The Doctor stepped out of his TARDIS, and then stepped right back inside. The TARDIS must have landed in the wrong era, the wrong place. He kept Madelyn inside, absolutely bewildered, and peeked out again. He had landed his TARDIS behind one of Gallifrey’s silver trees, expecting to see an expanse of red grass, and perhaps some of the tribal non-Time-Lord Gallifreyans who lived outside the Citadel. 

Instead, he saw military regiments. He stared at them a moment, not sure what to do.

“Doctor? Are we going to go outside?” Madelyn gently nudged him from the back, and the Doctor flailed a bit, stepping out and leading her behind him.

“Yes, yes of course…just wasn’t expecting to see the army about, that’s all.” The Doctor took her hand and led her under the tree, his eyes absolutely glued to the troops in formation on the grass. This definitely wasn’t normal. Why in heaven would Gallifrey train _ground_  troops? They hadn’t had war in years, and when they did, it was usually more of a cosmic nature, not involving the entire population of Time Lords. 

“Do your people fight a lot? Mine do. Just ten years ago in my world, we had a terrible war,” Madelyn murmured, keeping close to him. She reached out a hand to examine the tree, intrigued by the silvery-red bark. 

“We’ve had wars, yes…but I’ve never seen troops training outside the Citadel, much less this much of them.” The Doctor definitely felt nervous now, but he decided to shake it off for now. Perhaps Romana had resigned, and a new President had been elected, and said new President was fond of military displays? He only hoped there was a good reason for all of this.

Madelyn seemed actually interested in the troops, which he could not figure out. Perhaps she was simply used to a military state of being. He knew that humans warred nearly all the time.

“Come along now. I can show you something nicer, I hope…” The Doctor tugged her away from the troop displays, and set his TARDIS to invisible, even though they were rather high up on a mountain. His TARDIS was old and outdated, and the Time Lords probably wouldn’t want to take it, but he couldn’t be sure. And he knew that if they saw her, they’d know that he was here. He wasn’t sure he wanted that yet.

“There are other people than Time Lords who live here. There are people more like you, who are mortal, and they are just regular Gallifreyans. Perhaps we can meet some.” The Doctor put on a smile for Madelyn, and she smiled back, much to his relief. He honestly would prefer the tribal natives to his own people at the moment. 

They walked along the mountain for a while, traveling in the exact opposite direction of the troops. Madelyn kept looking backward toward them, but the Doctor tried to ignore it. There was an odd tang in the air, and he wondered if they were testing war chemicals. He held Madelyn a little closer, and she looked up at him.

“Doctor, you’re very quiet. What’s wr - ” Madelyn suddenly made a choking sound and stumbled against the Doctor, and the Doctor felt pain suddenly scream through his lungs. They both stumbled backward, and the Doctor looked around wildly for a source of gas, but saw nothing. The pain finally proved too much, and they both collapsed, receding into blackness.

—-

The Doctor awoke a while later in unfamiliar settings, a much colder forest grove, next to a mountain spring. He scrambled upward, his first instinct to look for the TARDIS, but his head began to pound, and he had to lie down again. He vaguely made out Madelyn lying next to him, and a blurry figure in front of him.

“Hush, sir. You’re very ill. You’re lucky that wasn’t the death gas they were testing; it could have been much worse.” The thickly accented voice was a young man’s, and he was dressed in simple clothes made of handwoven cloth, sewn together with tiny reeds. The Doctor’s vision grew less blurry, and he forced himself to speak.

“What…tell me what’s going on. Please. Need my…need my TARDIS - ” The Doctor tried to push himself up again, but the man eased him back down again, looking alarmed at the mention of a TARDIS. 

“The Time Lords have been testing gas weapons around that mountain range. We have scouts in the trees, high enough beyond the gas, who look for anyone who may have wandered into their testing range. It looks like you were hit with an immobilizing gas. Thank heavens it wasn’t the death gas.” The man kept the Doctor pressed down, and then eased a cool drink to his lips. The Doctor sipped at it, feeling his throat sting as it went down, but a soothing effect afterward. Madelyn made a little moan, her eyes still shut.

“Is she all right?” The Doctor rasped, pointing a shaking finger at his companion. The man gave a little shrug.

“Her biology is vastly different from yours and mine. I don’t know what to do. We’re trying what we can.” The man looked at him warily now. “My name’s Sanio. And you are a Time Lord, correct? You mentioned a TARDIS.” Through his haze, the Doctor knew that this man was definitely a Gallifreyan, probably one of a tribe of them. He reached vaguely for Madelyn’s hand and took it.

“Time Lord, yes. Don’t live here anymore. What’s going on? Why are they testing gas?” The Doctor refrained from mentioning his name, just in case the tribe knew of him. It was always better to keep anonymous these days. Sanio pushed him down yet again, for the Doctor was struggling upward, making his headache worse.

“What do you _think_  they’re doing, Time Lord? They’re preparing for war. I don’t know who against, but they’re out to slaughter someone.”


End file.
